Wild hires new coach...

[thunderpout]

 The Minnesota Wild hired their 2nd coach in their teams history... Todd Richards, Minnesota native and ex Gopher.  Born in Crystal MN, he went to Armstrong high school, was a stand out defenseman for Armstrong and at the U of M...  I love it that we have a little Minnesota blood in the organization now, along with Bob Mason the goalie coach and Mike Ramsey, Lemaire's assistant, which may or may not be retained...( I hope they stay on...)  I didnt think Richards would make the final cut out of the others mentioned because of his experience level, but I think its a great pick.  It sounds like Richards will bring a little more of an up tempo/wide open style of playing to the excel energy center.... maybe that will be enough to get Gabby to sign for at least a year...   Cant wait for the season to start!

[BiggA]

This is exciting news. I dont think we will see Gaborik in Wild jersey next year though. We will basically be "rebuilding" and through free agency he will probably get some oppurtunitys to play for some Stanley Cup contenders. Would be nice to see him to stay though. Maybe they can convince him they are going to bring in some goal scorers to take a little attention off him. All in all though I am excited about seeing some more open hockey. Never been a big fan of getting a goal and then playing defense and hoping it holds up.

[thunderpout]

Yeah... especially those last few minutes of the game.... it takes years off your life watching those one goal leads with the puck in your end the last three minutes of the game... I used to play goalie, and that crap drives ya nuts and still does!   (makes it kinda interesting to watch though... )

[UncleDave]

I went to school with Todd.  Played baseball with him (I was never a hockey player).  He is a great guy.  It will be fun watching a local HOPEFULLY do well!